


Halloween on the Go

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [192]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-09
Updated: 2012-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-10 15:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4397036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halloween comes early this year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween on the Go

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting  
> My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue
> 
> Bike path stories: My favorite fall Arcadia - [Autumn Rhapsody](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798075) \- also has some sweet romance on a faraway bike path. Quinn and Ian rescued Violet on the neighborhood bike path in [Good Neighbors](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4312137). One of my favorite kisses in the series took place in [Father's Day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798042), on a bike path near Padua. (Another kiss is secretly watched by the other father in [Window to the Soul](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1907880).)  
>   
> Here are the Halloween Arcadias:  
>   
> 2003 -- [Masquerade](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1416970)  
> 2004 -- [Hallowe'en Kata](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1798078)  
> 2005 -- [Happy Tatooween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494276)  
> 2006 -- [Happy Tatooween, Take Two: Undercovers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4494279)  
> 2007 -- [A Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4140561)  
> 2008 -- [Jedi Trick or Treat](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4209189)  
> 2009 -- [Return of the Jedi Halloween](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4276158)  
> 2010 -- [A Little Halloween Diplomacy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4359473)  
> 2011 -- [Hallowed Light](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4388372)  
>   
> To Helen

It looked like Halloween would turn out to be spookier than ever before for Quinn and Ian this year.  
  
Hurricane Sandy threatened to roar up the Mid-Atlantic coastline in a way the Sith would have envied. The weather forecasters had predicted the superstorm a week earlier, allowing the professors and their family, friends, and neighbors to prepare for it well in advance.  
  
Alder Run decided to celebrate Halloween on the preceding Saturday, to make sure that the children were not deprived of their candied haunting grounds. So that afternoon, Ian and Quinn had been able to serve as the Knight-protectors of Lelia and Han -- dressed as their favorite alter egos, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo -- just as they'd done for the past several years. It was a tradition that gave all four of them an inordinate feeling of rightness and satisfaction.  
  
After a merry jaunt up the block --packed with laughter, tiny monsters, and more sugar than you could shake a gaffi stick at -- the quartet finished their trick-or-treating. Han sent two packets of M & M's sailing over to Quinn and Ian, an implicit thank-you for their very own Jedi Guardians of Peace.  
  
The children's grandparents came to take their galactic travelers home with them, and the professors had the rest of the day to themselves.  
  
What better way to take advantage of the last beautiful afternoon before the storm than with a jog up the neighborhood bike path?  
  
Their Jedi linens and cloaks were flung on the bed -- a welcome splash of cream and brown against the blue and green tartan comforter they'd started using again a couple of weeks ago -- in favor of sweatpants and Luke t-shirts with warm-up jackets covering them. Sneakers replaced their Williamsburg boots, much to the delight of their toes.  
  
A couple of minutes to grab a drink of water and the keys, then they were at the front door, only pausing for a candy-coated kiss. They couldn't wait to get outside again before sunset, to make the most of the afternoon sun as they returned to one of their favorite haunts.  
  
Ian and Quinn walked briskly to the end of their block as a warm-up, then increased their pace to a jog when they turned onto the path. They luxuriated in the late October breezes while they were shooting the breeze as they jogged along. They had the path all to themselves, which didn't surprise them since they had seen the kids out trick or treating in force, along with their own little party earlier in the afternoon.  
  
After a few minutes, Ian started sweating in the bright sunshine, despite the cool air temperature. He tugged down the zipper of his warm-up jacket, but it snagged on blue cotton. He stopped jogging to try to disentangle it, and Quinn followed suit.  
  
Quinn chuckled at Ian's all-but gymnastic efforts to free himself -- accompanied by various snorts and snerfles -- but eventually he couldn't resist lending a big hand. He gently wiggled the zip back and forth, using his other hand to hold the fabric away from it.  
  
Sure enough, his patience and dexterity succeeded, where Ian's impetuousness and flexibility had failed. He unzipped Ian completely, all the while holding his eyes, with a smile as warm as summertime gracing his face.  
  
"Ever the Master," Ian purred. He put his hand over the one that had freed him, then sprinted up the path with a shouted, "Catch me if you can," the sides of his jacket flapping wildly in the breeze.  
  
Quinn quickly caught up to him -- long legs eating the ground for an early dinner -- then easing into their side-by-side gait with a jaunty wink. Ian's heart soared as he jogged alongside Quinn on a carpet of leaves. This was his favorite time of year, the slight chill offset by the warmth of his herven beside him. In fact, he felt warmer than on the balmiest summer day when he was out here by himself.  
  
Perhaps it was the freshening breeze, a brisk reminder of the coming storm; perhaps it was their festive mood. Whatever the cause, they threw caution, literally, to the winds.  
  
And were gifted with one enchanted moment.  
  
That's the way Ian would later think of it. Even on the coldest winter day, it was sure to bring him the same warmth he'd felt back then.  
  
Impulsively, he slowed to a walk, his husband joining him. He linked arms with Quinn as they strode along, grinning up at him, bright as sunshine. And Quinn smiled back, right into his eyes.  
  
Quinn, with his near-telepathic bond with his lad, was aware of the charged air around him, a turbulence as if the hurricane were already upon them.  
  
They reached for each other at the same instant, lips meeting -- hungry for one another, for the unique feel of that well-loved mouth, for the rightness inherent in each tiny motion bringing them ever closer together.  
  
Quinn was not one to let a little thing like a scrap of t-shirt stand in his way, especially with Ian's jacket open so invitingly now, thanks to his own efforts. He slid his paws beneath the shirt, reveling in the contours of Ian's smooth back. Ian's soft sighs seemed loud to his ears, attuned as he was to his lad's every sound.  
  
Ian wanted his hands on skin of his own. He pulled Quinn to him by his warm-up jacket, closing the miniscule gaps left between them for good. The spark in his eyes ignited when he saw a tease of skin just below the jacket's waistband. As he ran his hands along the newly exposed skin at Quinn's waist, he saw his herven's eyes darken, despite the sunlight shining upon them, and grinned with a predatory flash of teeth.  
  
Their kiss this time was slow and reverent, despite the first beats of arousal coursing through them. They absorbed each other through their very skin.  
  
"Love you. Oh, love you, m'laddie," Quinn murmured into Ian's mouth.  
  
"Couldn't love you more," said Ian on a sigh. He nuzzled into one of his favorite spots -- beneath Quinn's jawline.  
  
They were lost in each other, in the moment. Here -- surrounded only by trees, sky, and a little lake -- was a second home to Quinn, what with his joy in all living things. And the romantic alchemy of love had turned it into Ian's sanctum, as well.  
  
So they didn't realize they were not alone.  
  
Prudence quietly looked on from her perch on the bench by the river. She was obscured from view by the very same colorful fall foliage that had drawn the men out.  
  
The sight of them was far more menacing to her peace of mind, in its own way, than all of the little ghosties and ghoulies she'd seen that very day.  
  
Simply overwhelming.


End file.
